


An imperfect recurrence.

by Shock_Cooling



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, The Teachings of Don Juan Series - Carlos Castaneda, 幼女戦記 | Youjo Senki | Saga of Tanya the Evil (Anime)
Genre: And will lead you down a thousand plotlines which lead nowhere, F/M, Focus on the visuals, Homura Akemi finally gets what she wants, Magical girl in therapy, Mixing quantum physics and magic is incredibly dangerous, One seriously confusing timeline.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-06-26 03:10:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19759381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shock_Cooling/pseuds/Shock_Cooling
Summary: Following the events of Rebellion, Homura Akemi has eliminated both The Wraiths and the Incubators. Despite this she knows she can't continue her relationship with Madoka. Madoka will have to be restored to who she once was and Homura will have to face the ensuing consequences. Whatever they may be.But before that happens...It seems Homura was not the only one that the Incubators stuck in an isolation field.





	1. The long delayed death of Clara.

**Author's Note:**

> "The eleventh, trembling one is Cowardice. "If I am taken into the sky, I won't be able to eliminate the rabbits." These dolls have a power like magic to implement a perfect recurrence." 
> 
> Note those words, a power like magic. 
> 
> A power like magic suggests that it's not magic at all.

Homura fell.

Right off the planet.

The planet being neatly sliced in half allowed her to fall and gather speed.

Enough speed to reach escape velocity.

Homura knew that the Incubators weren't from Earth. So she had to go and check something. She had to see if there were any Incubators on other worlds in her new universe.

It would mean leaving Madoka alone for awhile. But she was safe. Everyone was safe. Homura figured that leaving Madoka and her friends alone for awhile would be good for everyone.

Besides.

Homura still felt kinda bad about the whole, 'ripping Madoka from heaven thing.' And if they were around each other Homura didn't know if Madoka might take her powers back as she had very nearly done already.

So she fell, then traveled through the vastness of the universe.

There were a few other planets in the universe capable of supporting life. But there were no signs of incubators on any of them. There were no civilizations either. She found small animals, bugs, lizards a few mouse and fox like creatures and on one planet she found whales. But no sign of incubators or any creature advanced enough to even use a rock as a tool.

After three years of searching she concluded that she had all the Incubators firmly in hand, on Earth and returned there.

As Homura descended she found that Mitikihara City was thriving. Humans had repopulated the city and everything looked pretty much back to normal now. The familiars and magical entities had dissolved into the background. Replaced by reborn human souls. The souls she had seeded the city with before she left.

Homura wandered through the city. Checking on her friends. They were all doing well, having grown up and moved on with their lives. Having been allowed to grow up because Homura had begun a process which had dissolved their soul gems back into their bodies.

There was just one last thing she had to take care of.

Off in an alleyway, near Hitomi's apartment stood the last Wraith. Limping along behind it was the last Incubator in the universe. The hive mind had exhausted every last ounce of its energy and bodies. It knew that it had to absorb this Wraith. That was all it could do at this point.

A ring fell off its ear.

Then the other ring.

The last Wraith looked down at it.

It held out its hands towards the Incubator and dissolved into it.

The incubator sighed as it rested against a garbage can.

It heard footsteps.

It looked behind to see Homura standing there with a creepy smile on her face.

"So, any last requests?" She asked.

"No, just end it." The incubator replied.

Homura activated her shield and pulled out a Desert Eagle.

She fired.

And the last incubator was vaporized in an explosion of gore.

Homura looked at the pistol for a moment.

The slide was locked back, the gun was empty. 

She reached into her shield for more bullets.

The box of bullets was empty.

As she tossed the empty box in a trash can she realized something. This was the pistol she had used to kill Madoka.

She wondered why she had kept this awful thing for so long. In any case, without ammunition the pistol was useless to her now. Nothing more than an ugly and heavy reminder of bad memories.

She field stripped the pistol and disposed of it in several garbage cans. But as she was walking out of the alleyway she noticed something that made no sense.

All of a sudden her shield was missing a piece. A triangular fragment about the size of a fifty calibre pistol cartridge had been taken out.

Homura looked around.

The missing piece wasn't anywhere nearby.

She looked up.

Her jaw dropped.

She could see a world in the universe that hadn't been there before. A vast and technologically advanced civilization in ruins. Within that civilization she saw something that she never expected to see again. Active Incubator isolation fields. More than one.

Homura crouched down.

And launched herself towards the planet.

Her wings came out fully, her eyes seething with rage as she hurtled towards the planet at many times the speed of light.

Before she hit the other planets atmosphere she extended her wings fully to slow her down. She could see the isolation fields, there were two of them. One large and one small. In the basement of a large stone castle like structure.

She crashed right through the massive stone structure. Made of something that seemed more dense than granite.

She made it to the basement.

Inside a massive room were two field generators. One was small, generating a field a little bigger than her head. The other was protecting something about the size of a grown human.

Homura waved her hand over the smaller isolation field, deactivating it.

For just a moment she saw her missing shield fragment hovering in the air.

Then it fell to the floor with a cheerful ping.

Homura picked it up.

It made no sense. She didn't remember how or when she had lost this part of her shield. It made even less sense that she hadn't noticed it was missing until now. It wasn't just any part of the shield either, it had once contained the sands she used to manipulate time. The piece was scarred and worn.

Homura picked it up.

It was glowing.

She inserted the missing piece into its slot.

The shield opened completely and the last thing she had stashed inside it fell out. After having used up her extensive stockpiles of armaments fighting witches, Walpurgisnacht and Mami she had only one thing left in there. A Remington 870 shotgun.

The shotgun clattered to the floor.

As the fragment reintegrated itself into the shield the whole shield became scarred, pitted and nonfunctional. It looked like something that had been beaten on with hammers for about forty years straight. It appeared to age very intensely, to the point that it dissolved completely, leaving Homura with just her soul gem in its usual position on her left hand.

Homura blinked.

She hadn't expected that to happen, but she wasn't worried. She was a demon now. She was in charge of this universe. The ability to stop time and conceal downright absurd amounts of firepower on her person were superfluous. 

She walked over to the other isolation field and deactivated it.

Within the isolation field was the answer to a question she had been wondering about for awhile.

It was a young man, encased in a light green coating. The shell appeared to be the material that soul gems were made of. When a girl was turned into a magical girl her soul gem was made manifest as a small object. Apparently when you subjected a boy to the same process, petrification was the result.

Fortunately Homura had become very skilled at dissolving soul gem material back into their original containers. She waved her left hand over the body and began the process.

Her left hand shot up to her ear. Her salamander ear ring was twitching. It fell off her ear. As she reached down to the floor to pick it up it bit her on her right hand between her index finger and thumb.

Homura pulled her hand back as the salamander looked balefully at her. It craned its head around for a moment. Integrating the lost fragment meant that a second eye materialized in its head. It blinked both eyes and looked around. Then it started throwing up, it puked up fourteen grief seeds, looked at Homura one last time and died. Dissolving into nothing as it did so.

Homura reached down to pick up the piece of her soul gem that had spent the last three years dangling from the salamanders tail. As she touched the gem it leapt onto her middle fingernail. Embedding itself inside. As this happened the soul gem insignia on Homuras middle finger was joined by the insignia of Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko and Mami, respectively on the rest of her fingers on her left hand.

"What the...?" While Homura was looking at the fingernails on her left hand the grief seeds puked up by the salamander stood up. One began to vibrate, then levitate off the floor. Right before Homuras eyes it turned into Walpurgisnacht. Albeit a much smaller version of Walpurgisnacht than she was used to. This was about the same size as Homura as opposed to being as big as a building.

It began phasing into three forms.

A piece of metal cogwork.

A Clara doll.

And something that almost looked like a normal girl with long blonde hair.

Homura blinked as she swirled this thing around a little. Allowing the three separate forms to separate completely.

The illusion that appeared to be Walpurgisnacht faded to nothing as the girl slammed to the ground and Homura was left holding a large piece of cogwork.

Covered in blood and brains.

The girl was missing the top part of her head, dead as a hammer. It looked like it had been taken off following a savage beating with a large sharp and blunt object. Like the cogwork that she was currently holding. Homura jumped backward, she dropped the cogwork with a resounding clang as she scooped up the shotgun and hid behind the other pedestal. 

The remaining grief seeds were also growing at varying rates.

One was already a doll.

Homura held out her left hand and put so much intent into what she said next she did something that she didn't think she had ever done before. She cast a spell with words, one word.

"Purify!"

The doll went flying back from the force of her magic and hit a stone wall. She slumped to the floor as she turned back into a girl.

Three more dolls stood up.

Homura incanted again.

They also went flying.

Four dolls this time.

Homura incanted again but as the purification hit them they shot lines into the floor.

They remained dolls.

They awkwardly staggered to their feet.

Homura shouted to them.

"Look, I'm not sure what's going on here. But I'm trying to help you, okay?"

Several massive blasts akin to grenades hit Homura in the face sending her flying. As she hit the wall she growled.

"Okay, no more miss nice guy."

As the shotgun roared one of the dolls lost most of her leg below the knee.

Homura pumped as she strode towards them.

Boom!

Most of an arm, gone.

Homura slammed the third and fourth ones in the head as hard as she could with the shotguns butt.

There were still six grief seeds on the floor.

Homura let them grow with her shotgun trained on them.

As they turned into girls she shouted. "Any one of you fucking things so much as move and I'll shred you, understand!!!"

They started chanting.

"Fort Da, Fort Da, Fort Da!"

"What does that even mean!?!" Homura screamed.

They started chanting instead.

"God is Tott!"

She held out her hand and incanted again.

"Purify!"

They twitched, they convulsed. But they completed the transition.

The floor was now covered with unconscious and/or wounded girls.

Homura pulled a hair ribbon and tied tourniquet's around the gunshot wounds. 

The boy was almost free of the petrification.

The material shattered.

The boy immediately blinked and sat up. Exclaiming in clear Japanese, "water!"

Homura manifested a bottle of water. But for some reason that act exhausted her to the point where she almost fainted. Still she maintained and gave him the water. 

He drained the whole thing and coughed a little more.

He took a moment to look himself over. He was still wearing his old clothes. Though they looked a bit threadbare by now.

He looked at the ground.

He slid off the stone slab, cranked his head around and said. "Man am I glad to be out of that. So, who the heck are you?"

Homura put down the shotgun and held out her hand. "Homura Akemi."

The boy took it.

"Ishegami Senku. Nice to meet you."

He looked around.

"So can we... Get the heck out of here? If you have a spaceship waiting outside can we talk on that?"

"Spaceship?"

"This isn't Earth, right?"

"Yeah, no. Earth... Hm."

She focused.

She focused everything she had on returning to Earth. But Homura also realized that she needed a safe place to stash these girls. So she thought for a moment.

Thirteen girls materialized outside a police station in Mitikihara City.

Senku and Homura materialized in Homura's bunker. 

Homura had never felt so exhausted in her life.

She felt her wings fall off. They dissolved before they hit the ground.

She looked at her hands. She was undoubtedly bleeding where the salamander bit her. Her soul gem was dissolving. 

She whispered, "no no no, no, this can't..."

She fainted.

Senku caught her.

With her last bit of consciousness she whispered something that she never expected to say again for the rest of her life.

"Help me."

Senku carried her to a nearby bed.

He had no idea what the heck was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Really, the magic to manipulate the time stream is quite the ordeal to deal with, isn't it? 
> 
> Seems like the time manipulation device has been broken. But this sole sample is a great harvest for us. 
> 
> I was able to personally witness your hypothesis. A phenomenon I thought to be impossible to reproduce. For us there's nothing like these results. 
> 
> Now we have reasons to accept your story about the one who administers the laws of cause and effect. 
> 
> Homura Akemi."


	2. Catching up with Senku.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senku and Homura are back on Earth in the safety of her apartment. 
> 
> They have much to discuss.

He had never seen anything quite like it. She was in some kind of Rem sleep coma. It was like she was being forced to dream. 

But after everything he had been through a bit of forced dreaming seemed like a small price to pay. And someone else was paying it. 

Senku looked around the room. 

They had landed in Homura's room. A bunker that Homura had built a long time ago. There was more than enough stuff stashed here to fix all sorts of injuries. Along with a variety of armaments, currencies and other equipment. 

He quickly found medical supplies. Then he saw a TV remote. 

He had been gone for a long time. This... Akemi girl had a strong pulse. She seemed physically fine, just... Sleeping.

He decided that finding out what had happened to humanity was what he needed to do next. Calling for emergency services might be pointless if there were no emergency services to call. 

He turned on the TV. 

The world was still there and humanity was still in charge. Much to his surprise. There was no mention anywhere of witches, incubators or anything that didn't make any sense. 

It was May 20 2017. 

He had been gone for nine years. 

Nine years since Göttigen. Nine years since Natascha and Clara. 

Nine years since he had made that stupid wish. 

He looked at a phone. 

He dialed a long memorized number. 

The line rang. 

He hoped, he hoped against hope that perhaps...

"Moshi moshi?" 

"Dad?" 

"Senku!?!" 

"Hey, I'm... I'm back. Did you miss me?" 

"Senku, I... We. We, what happened? Where did you go?" 

"I was kidnapped, I'm with the... Authorities right now. Some... Thing, I can't really say what just yet, kept me in a hole for a very long time. I don't know what's going on but I swear that I will come find you as soon as I can." 

"No, no I'll come to you. Where are you?" 

"I'm not entirely sure about that just yet. Listen, Dad, I have to take care of a couple of things first. I can't talk any longer. But I'm so glad to speak to you. Just... I swear, I will get back to you as soon as I can. Tell Taiju and Yuzuriha that I missed them too and that I'm okay. I love you." 

"I love you too son, just... Come home as soon as you can." 

Senku hung up. Tears already flowing. 

He wiped them away and looked at the girl who had saved him. 

And his jaw dropped. 

Her body was growing at an incredible rate. As if six years of growth were happening all at once. Senku exhaled and wandered to the nearest bathroom in an attempt to avoid seeing what was probably going to happen next. 

He had never imagined that a bathroom with a flush toilet could be such a luxury. 

Once he was done and had cleaned himself up he opened up a lush, rich selection of foods. Or at least as lush and rich as the various preserved and canned foods that Homura had stashed here. Once he had a good mouthful of food he sighed in satisfaction. As he washed it down with fresh water Homura woke up. 

Her sexy demon outfit didn't fit anymore. It had simply fallen off. 

She squeaked and wrapped herself in a blanket. 

Then she saw the food that Senku had laid out and didn't hesitate. She leapt towards the table and feasted. Her body desperately needed every single calorie of energy available following her sudden growth. 

Once they were both full they both pushed away from the table and exhaled in satisfaction. 

Homura staggered over to the bathroom. 

Senku asked, "so, I know I've been gone awhile but, would you care to fill me in on what happened while I was gone? And who are you? I mean, I know your name, but as to what you are... Well, I have heard of magical girls and witches. But you don't seem to be one anymore." 

Homura found a robe hanging in the bathroom. She put it on and said, "okay, I'll try to explain things as well as I can. But it's going to take awhile." 

Senku replied, "well don't take too long. I've already missed nine years of my life. It seems I have some catching up to do." 

"Yeah we all do, oh, before I forget. Can you tell me what Fort-Da means?" 

"Fort Da? It's German. It's a concept in Freudian psychoanalysis referring to the repetitive behavior of children. Especially harmful behavior. It means Gone There. When Freud wrote down the concept he was talking about a child whose father had 'gone to the front' and who probably wasn't coming back."

Homura looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. 

She had grown. 

She wasn't a demon anymore. 

She held her head. 

She wasn't a witch. Her head was all there. 

She still had one last tiny bit of her soul gem on her fingernail. Along with those of the rest of her 'team' for some reason. 

She realized that it was well past time to iron all this out. 

She came out of the bathroom and reached into a drawer. There was a blank notebook in the dresser. She sat down on a chair and pointed to a pen on a table next to Senku. 

"Mr Ishegami, I'm about to tell you a story. A story that may or may not be true. If you could, please write down as much of this as you can and save all questions for the end, okay?" 

Senku nodded. 

Homura took a deep breath. 

"Where do I even begin? Probably the day I got out of hospital."

Homura finished with the words. 

"And then the very last thing I see is a window taped shut, the end."

Over the course of the story they had been eating, drinking, going to the bathroom. Senku had taken notes the whole time and Homura would occasionally point to some item or another that she had acquired on her adventures, including...

"A nuclear warhead!?!" Senku exclaimed in horror as he examined the device. 

"Yeah, I stole it out of raw components at a national research laboratory. I actually used it on Walpurgisnacht once. But it wound up causing even worse consequences than allowing Madoka to turn into Gretchen Kriemheld. Nine days to destroy the world is pretty bad. But it's better than three and a half hours." 

Senku examined the device. The casing was kinda crude. But inside everything looked... Functional and he would leave it at that. 

"And you were sleeping with this thing next to you?" 

"Only on one time loop." 

"Then why is it here now?" 

"I built this one shortly before I left on my trip. I just wanted to prove that I could." 

"Well in either case I strongly suggest that you find a way to get rid of it." 

"What? No, it's fine, submariners sleep next to those things." 

"Not quite, it depends on what kind of plutonium they were using. There's something called super grade plutonium that is really hard to make. That's what the US Navy makes their bombs out of. But since you said this was stolen from parts from Japanese stockpiles material there was a distinct possibility that this might have been made with a form of plutonium that gives off way more gamma rays." 

Homura held out her hand and teleported the bomb back to where it had come from. 

She exhaled. 

It was like the whole room got fifty degrees colder. 

Senku picked up a cup of tea. He exhaled nervously as he said. "Don't... Demonstrate your powers again for a little while, okay. I think I've figured out why I'm in this story."

He took a demure sip of tea and began. 

"So right before you rescued me you say that this salamander earring you had came to life and puked up a bunch of grief seeds. Looked at you, blinked both its eyes and then died?" 

"Yeah. What? Do you think I made that part up?" 

"No, not at all. I just needed to double check that detail." 

He took another sip. 

"Homura, have you ever heard the term, 'plastic shaman?" 

She shook her head in the negative. 

"Anthropology is an interesting subject of study. Endlessly fascinating, endlessly complex and amazingly controversial. One of the things that defines modern anthropology is the cross pollination of various cultural traditions. Particularly ancient shamanistic traditions onto modern culture." 

"Some people say that this pollination is a bad thing because it 'appropriates' other people's culture. But my issue isn't someone using another cultures traditions or habits. It's when the research becomes contaminated with falsehoods and nonsense. Instead of doing actual research, actually living amongst the people in question and studying their actual living culture. People start making a bunch of nonsense up and claiming that it is true. Thus the term Plastic Shaman. Oh sure, they may look like a shaman, but it's really just some kid playing dress up. One of the most infamous examples of this is a mysterious figure named Carlos Castaneda, ever heard of him?" 

"No. Should I have?" 

"Probably not. He wrote a book called The Teachings of Don Juan. I read it as part of a study of plastic shamanism. Castaneda claims to have been taught the shamanistic secrets of the Yaqui Indian tribe of Mexico over the course of several years and numerous drug trips. Trouble is, it was all made up. The Yaqui didn't actually do any of this stuff. They didn't tend to use narcotics in their shamanistic traditions. Either way. The book records several rather wild stories. There was always one thing that really stuck with me about that book though. This one ritual. Involving Jimson weed, some kind of lotion and two lizards." 

Senku put the tea down and stared deeply into Homuras eyes for emphasis. 

"First off, something that I knew before I ever read the book. Jimson weed, also known as Datura. Is widely regarded among expert psychonauts as one of if not the most dangerous psychedelic drug known to man. Castaneda was taught to use Jimson weed and a lotion rubbed on either side of his forehead and a couple of lizards to... Oh I can't even remember what he was trying to accomplish. A scrying ritual I think? Something about finding stolen books that had their pages glued together. Either way, what's important is that the guy screwed up. He put the lotion all over his forehead, not just on the sides. After everything was said and done, his advisor. The eponymous Don Juan. Informed him that his screwup was actually a technique used only by the most powerful of sorcerers. Weaker seers simply couldn't withstand the raw power that came from putting the lotion in the middle of the forehead." 

Senku had his right index and middle finger right in the middle of his forehead to emphasize the point. 

"Oh yeah, the other reason why this ritual stuck with me. The ritual required two lizards. One with its eyes sewn shut and one with its mouth sewn shut. Putting the lotion on the center of his forehead sent him off to who knows where. The shaman said that he would have gone completely insane if he hadn't had one of those lizards with him. Guiding him back to reality." 

"That struck me as a rather messed up story. I mean, here's this guy tripping balls on one of the most dangerous hallucinogens known to man and his only lifeline back to reality is a lizard whose eyes or mouth he has personally sewn shut? I mean, if I was that lizard I would have told this guy to go take a flying leap. Either way, it seems like there are some other things going on here besides what you and the incubators were dealing with." 

Senku gently took Homuras left hand. 

"But before we do anything else I would suggest that you return these fragments of people's souls to their original owners." 

Senku reached into a pocket. 

"This is my good luck charm. It's a piece of a thermal tile from a space shuttle. If a sample of something exists then it can be studied and if something can be studied then there is a good chance it can be replicated. Magic based on the manifestation of the human soul is incredibly dangerous. My experience with it might be limited, but yours isn't. I think before we do anything else we should make sure that these are returned. And I think I know exactly where we should start." 

Homura was still a touch shaky on her new legs. And she was wearing the only thing in the bunker that fit her. A tactical outfit that she had bought by mail order but had screwed up the sizing. 

After her unexpected growth it fit her perfectly. 

They walked out of the bunker. 

Towards Mami Tomoe's apartment.


	3. Just the right amount of cheese.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homura gives back what little she has left.

When they arrived Homura knocked on the door.

Mami answered.

She had grown up.

Quite a bit.

But so had Homura.

Senku was a bit shorter than both of them.

But still.

Much time had passed.

Mami asked the two of them, "um, who are you?"

"You don't remember me?" Homura asked.

"No... I can't say that I do." Mami replied.

Senku interrupted. "You two went to school together. Awhile ago, about... Three years ago. Well, actually you didn't so much go to school as share a commute? Train..?"

"Station... Oh my god! Sayaka! Yes! Sayaka Miki! Now I remember. You're Homura Akemi! That was the, aw wow. Yes, I remember. I was coming home, it was late at night and I stopped in a train station bathroom and, I found Sayaka ODing on heroin in the bathroom. She had just bought a bunch of drugs to kill herself with because she was bent out of shape over her... Oh there was this tool who dumped her and she couldn't take it and... Yes. Yes you were the one who came in after me and called 911. We saved her life. Then before the ambulances showed up you vanished and this girl named Kyoko appeared. Kyoko... She took care of Sayaka during her recovery. I looked for you, it was like you vanished off the face of the earth."

Senku held out his hand for a handshake and said. "She... Kinda did, well, I just need to see two things in your apartment and we will be on our way."

"Two things?" Mami asked.

"Yeah, a piece of artwork and if you have someone here named Nagisa."

Mami looked somewhat askance as she invited them in, announcing. "Nagisa, there's someone here to see you."

As Senku walked in he saw the thing with the multicolored balls on it.

The balls were all gone, as he suspected.

Replaced with a floor lamp.

He exhaled in relief. His theory was working out.

Then Nagisa walked in.

She had grown up... a lot.

She was taller than anyone in the room.

Strikingly physically attractive, really intense eyes.

The word statuesque came to Senku's mind.

Senku had all he needed. And he really didn't want to spend too much time around a being that allegedly had a habit of chomping people's heads clean off. He bowed in resignation and said, "okay, very nice to meet you, bye!"

Homura held up her hand and said. "Hang on, I just need to do one thing."

She held out her left hand for a handshake to Nagisa.

Nagisa took it.

Both of them barely noticed the energy transfer.

Nagisa closed and opened her hand several times, she shrugged her shoulders and said. "Okay, nice to meet you both. Is there anything you want from me?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Homura said.

As they walked away Homura pointed out. 

"That's not what happened." 

"I know," Senku replied. "You remade the world, but you remade it largely as it was before the Incubators started messing with things. Memories, people, my father... Apparently. I don't know, but it's looking like a completely different way of organizing things has won out. I mean, Sayaka turning into a witch couldn't happen in a world where witches don't exist, right? But substituting that memory for a drug overdose seems like a rather logical result." 

"But none of this is logical!" Homura replied. 

"Mmm, perhaps, or perhaps there's a deeper logic here that you just aren't seeing yet. In any case, I would say it's well past time you and Sayaka sat down and talked without either of you having the power to blank each other's memories." 


	4. Kyoko Sakura is much older than she looks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So we've given it the codename, "Salamander."

Senku and Homura walked. 

Fairly quickly. 

To Kyoko and Sayaka's place. 

When they got there they once again knocked on the door. 

Kyoko Sakura opened the door. Kyoko looked somewhat confused. Homura said to her. 

"Regardless of whatever happens next. I just want to thank you for being there for me, even though you couldn't help, because I was nuts." 

Kyoko tilted her head and said, "okay, you're welcome... Whoever you are." 

"Oh, you will be remembering her soon enough." Observed Senku. 

Homura gently tapped Kyoko's shoulder, the gem dissolving into its original owner. 

Kyoko fell into Homura and Senku's arms. 

They carried her into the apartment and closed the door. Senku carefully carried her to a nearby bed. 

Sayaka walked into the scene. 

"What did you do to... Aargh!" 

Sayaka reached for a huge knife. A terrifyingly large knife. Senku thought it looked more like the kind of knife that Inuit used to skin walruses as opposed to what you would expect to find in a Japanese woman's apartment. 

Homura exhaled. 

She had to let this happen. 

Years and years of dealing with this girls shit. Across multiple timelines and realities and it always seemed to come back to Sayaka's blade being aimed at her chest. Sayaka appeared to be moving slowly. Three years of no fighting or magical girl stuff had smoothed the girls edge. 

Homura reached for the Beretta and took two steps forward and to the left. 

She knocked the knife out of Sayaka's hands with the slide of her gun. 

Then put her left hand on Sayakas right shoulder. 

The knife dropped from Sayakas hands. 

The Beretta dropped from Homuras hands. 

Homura was now holding the handle of one of Sayaka's magic swords. Which was impaled through Sayaka's chest. 

The two of them looked down. 

Homura asked. 

"Why Sayaka, why do you keep doing these things to yourself?" 

Homura pulled the sword out of Sayaka. 

Sayaka collapsed into a couch. 

As the magic sword dissolved in Homura's hand she invited Senku to, "fix her." 

Senku lifted up her shirt. 

There was a rapidly healing sword wound. Healing so rapidly that Senku couldn't really do anything about it, there was no need to. 

Sayakas arms flopped to the side. 

Senku began his examination. 

When it concluded he observed, "okay, this is pretty freaky. The wound is healed, but her eyes aren't doing the forced dreaming thing like Kyoko. It looks more like she is suffering the effects of massive opiate toxicity." 

"Opiates? Like heroin?" 

"Yeah, this is... Weird." 

Senku looked around the apartment. 

Something caught his eye. A wind chime. 

Senku looked at it closely and noticed that several parts of the chime appeared to be made of cogwork. He took it down and used a convenient pair of scissors to cut the cogwork out of the chime. He presented the five cogs to Homura and said, "a wind chime made partly out of a human soul. This is the most, metal thing I have ever seen in my life." 

Senku dropped the cogs into Homuras left hand. They dissolved into her body causing the remaining soul gem fragments to glow reassuringly. 

Sayaka opened her eyes. 

"We went to a lot of trouble for you, transfer student." 

"Um, excuse me, miss Miki. You are the one who turned this poor girl into a city sized factory to process humanities collective grief." Senku interrupted. 

"What?!" Homura asked. 

"What? You didn't think anyone would notice? You didn't think that someone like me would come along who could recognize industrial machinery?" 

Senku looked at Homura. 

"Sayaka and the Sweets Witch took over your soul gem and engineered it into something that would process out all the grief in all the grief seeds inside you, Kyoko and Mami's soul gems. Sayaka and the Sweets Witch were entrusted with all of Madokas memories and powers. One of those powers being the ability to dissolve grief out of people's souls. But there was a problem. Madoka was working with an entire universe. You were in an enclosed space. Trapped by the incubators isolation field. So, you robbed them of their memories. Washing their souls. Washing and purifying until everything was clean enough for Madoka to be restored." 

Senku looked down at Sayaka. 

"But the contaminants remained. Even after you busted out Homura was burdened by all the collective despair of humanity. But it was despair without context. Despair is supposed to be attached to our memories and experiences. Memories had been erased, mixed up and all that despair became defined by the one thing that defined your existence." 

Senku turned to Homura. 

"Your love for Madoka." 

Homura growled at Sayaka. 

"Is that why you didn't tell me that we were trapped by the Incubators?" 

Sayaka looked at Senku with disdain at first. Then she exhaled. 

"By the time the Incubators caught you... Humanity was almost gone, Earth was freezing solid. Mitikihara City, under the protection of you, Mami and Kyoko was the last place on Earth that the Wraith hadn't completely taken over. They were about to though and when they did humanity would be gone. When we went inside your soul gem we found all the souls from all the grief seeds that you, Mami and Kyoko had ever used were still inside there. Every witch and every one of their victims. More than enough souls to rebuild humanity. Trouble was, they were all completely insane. So, Bebe and I created a system where they could come back. Where they could play at being humans again. Once everything was stable enough these souls would be returned to bodies and humanity would go on."

"Yeah, there's a few problems with that idea though. One being that you didn't do anything about the incubators. As long as they were around we were all at risk." Senku stated. 

"We..." 

Sayaka slumped over and passed out. 

Senku shook her awake and said, "oh no you don't. You aren't getting away from this that easily." 

Sayaka opened her eyes and said, "we were going to deal with the Incubators. Once her and Kyoko and Mami were freed of all those souls the incubators wouldn't have any power over us. The contracts would have been undone and the system of contracts and magical girls wouldn't have existed anymore."

"No, that particular system of contracting wouldn't have existed anymore. But as long as the Incubators existed they would always be a threat to humanity. Our emotions and abilities made us entirely too tempting a target for them." Senku sat down next to Sayaka and said. "According to Homura the first time you met Kyoko she tried to kill you. And if... Someone hadn't intervened she would have. From what you have said Mami got eaten by the Witch Charlotte on more than one occasion. Why is it that everyone involved in this has been made to live with their mortal enemies?" 

Sayaka laughed weakly and replied. "It's proof. Proof that the trauma... the grief was all gone. That all is... Forgiven and forgotten." 

Senku said, "let's face it Sayaka. Your plan, whatever it was, was complete shit from beginning to end. But perhaps that is just what should be expected from a couple of teenage grief junkies." 

"Grief junkies?" Homura asked. 

Senku stated firmly. "Grief junkies. They were addicted to the power that the soul gems provided. But they needed you to handle the waste products." 

Sayaka clapped her hands slowly, it took everything she had. 

"Congratulations. You found out that I liked the taste of magic. And that Bebe liked the taste of magic." 

Sayaka looked up. 

"But no, this... Bitch had to go and wreck everything. If you had been able to keep it together for another three seconds..." 

Sayaka nodded out again. 

"Where did you get the lizard?" Senku asked loudly. 

Sayaka opened her eyes again and looked at him grimly. 

"That's for me to know, and for you to find... Out." 

Sayaka's smile took on an indescribably creepy look. 

"So, what you going to do, Homura? Take your vengeance? Kill us all? Didn't you say that after the Wraiths were gone that you..." 

Sayakas eyes rolled back into her head as she passed out. 

Homura let go. 

She started to tear up. 

Senku walked over to a nearby bookcase. Right there was a Japanese translation of The Teachings of Don Juan. Senku picked it up and said, "this whole thing is completely insane. But I don't think we are going to get any further with these two until whatever this is wears off. I think we should talk to Madoka." 

Homura stood up and said, "I don't think I can, this is..."

Senku took her hands and said, "listen. You have been trapped in labyrinths for who knows how long. But you aren't alone. Whatever you do next, I'm with you ten billion percent. But I really think we should resolve this before we run the risk of the magic dissolving completely. Without the incubators part of the contracting system that creates magic is gone and I don't know how much longer..." 

Senku showed Homura her left hand for emphasis. 

"This is going to last." 

Homura took a deep breath and nodded in the affirmative. 

Senku pocketed Sayaka's huge knife after wrapping the blade in a makeshift scabbard of cardboard and tape. They carried Sayaka to the bed and let her and Kyoko sleep off whatever it was they were going through. Then they started walking to the Kaname family home.


	5. Madoka.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What I imagine you have all been waiting for. Madoka and Homura's long anticipated post Rebellion briefing. 
> 
> With an... Unexpected guest?

As the wandered through the city Homura observed.

"You know you seem to be doing a pretty good job of keeping up with all this, Senkuu."

Senku replied, "well, it may be magic we are talking about. But it does seem to obey some physically consistent laws."

"Why are you helping me? Why aren't you running off to go be with your family and friends? I mean, I have no idea how they are alive, I wasn't aware of their existence I shouldn't have been able to..."

"You weren't aware of their existence but Clara was. Walpurgisnacht came to Japan to destroy my entire existence. You invited your friends in and she invited hers. Though I do wonder how she tricked my father and Taiju and Yuzuriha into hiding inside your gem, I'll have to have a talk with them about that. Either way, your... Rebuilding of reality seems to be built largely on perception. On remembering the way the world was before the incubators wrecked everything. The more perceptions we have to work with the more uniformly consistent reality will be. You told me that one of the dolls played with causality decided by entanglement. Well, if that's the case then what we need is observers observing the experiment. In various quantum physics experiments the very act of observing the experiment we influence the results. Hopefully in our favor as opposed to a continued deconstruction of reality itself."

He stopped and pointed his thumb at a bunch of mustache-cotton ball plant things working in a park.

"Because to be honest. I don't think I'm going to able to get used to stuff like that."

They stopped outside the fence to the Kaname family home.

Senku exhaled and held out his hand.

"Homura, could you unload your pistol?"

Homura asked, "why? If Madoka is a witch then won't I need this?"

"That's not what I'm worried about. What I'm worried about is, well... The last thing you saw was a window taped shut, right? Well... When you were in the deepest depths of your despair you told me that you locked a door inside yourself. You left an image of Madoka locked up down there, sleeping in the deepest darkest part of your... For lack of a better word, mind. You have been gone for three years, Madoka has probably moved on with her life. What we find in there might tick you off."

Homura frowned in defiance and pulled out the pistol, discretely. She took the magazine out and popped the round in the chamber. She reholstered and the two of them walked past the fence.

Homura rang the doorbell as she explained.

"I know I've been gone for... Awhile but..."

The door exploded open. Tatsuya blew past them, giggling. He had clearly grown as well. Though he was still just a kid.

Hitomi almost ran past them. Stopping at the door, shaking her fist, shouting. "And stay out you miserable little twerp!"

Like everyone else Hitomi had grown as well.

Her shirt was wide open.

A rather cute bra was visible to the world.

Homura stared at Senku and observed in an angry tone. "Congratulations Senku, you are apparently better at figuring out what is going on in this world than its God. Are you happy now?"

"Well, that all depends on what you are going to do next." Senku replied.

Homura cocked back a fist and knocked Hitomi out cold with one punch.

Homura held her right hand.

It hurt.

It hurt a lot!

She tried to shake the pain out as Senku knelt down to examine Hitomi.

"Rapid eye movement, strong pulse, breathing normally. Looks like she is being forced to dream like the others. Before Madoka gets here there's one last thing I need to say. The wraith, your... I think your involvement with them doesn't make any sense."

"The... Wraith? Why the heck do you want to talk about them? And why now of all times?"

"From what you've told me. The wraith sound like they were something like an immune response on the part of humanities collective unconsciousness to magic. Getting rid of the incubators got rid of them, but they should have never been your problem in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

Senku gently clasped Homura's swelling and bruising hand.

"You existed in that world. But Madoka never did. She was barely known, strictly as an abstract concept by only two people on the planet, you and that kid that just ran past us, right? She had never been born in that timeline. You have told me... Repeatedly, that you became a magical girl specifically to save Madoka. If you had existed in that timeline you probably wouldn't have been a magical girl. Because you never would have met Madoka. Or if you had been a magical girl, it would have been for a completely different reason. You can't wish to save the life of someone who never existed, can you?"

Those last fourteen words hit Homura much harder than the pain from the punch.

They made her feel hollow in a way she couldn't articulate.

Madoka walked up, quite confused by what was happening.

Madoka had grown up.

Homura couldn't speak. But someone else could... Kinda.

"Glarb perble, wijijuidt, huaaaaaaaaa!"

All three of them looked down.

Hitomis back was arching. Her eyes were wide open and changing in a way which is hard to describe. She was speaking gibberish.

Hitomis head snapped towards Homura as she giggled out the words.

"Now I'm the pumpkin! Full, of..." 

Hitomis mouth opened and she started shrieking a sound that sounded like utter madness. As if the most utterly insane person in the history of the world was waking up to the realization that they were in fact... Insane.

She rolled into a kneeling position and proceeded to throw up dozens of grief seeds. Which exploded like firecrackers as soon as they were hit by the afternoon sun. Everyone dove for cover behind Madoka's furniture. As the energy dissipated Hitomi relaxed. She stood up, pulled her shirt back on and looked at everyone.

She began to cry.

She shouted, "Fucking magical girls!" And ran out of the house.

Senku exhaled in relief. Then he looked at Madoka.

Madoka's hair had gone crazy. As had her eyes. She walked back to her room. 

Senku threw the magazine towards Homura.

"Get ready I think she's about to do something..."

The magazine slammed home.

Homura racked the slide.

Just as Madoka came out of her room. Holding a cocked pistol sized crossbow.

"Stupid." Senkuu observed

Madoka pointed the crossbow at Homura.

Senku drew the knife.

Madoka hesitated.

"That's not yours, is it?" Madoka looked at Senku, asking coldly.

"No, I borrowed it from Sayaka Miki. Without asking, but with every intention of giving it back to her when she is sane enough."

"And when will that be? The fourth of never?" Madoka replied.

"Why are you talking like this? It sounds so creepy." Homura asked.

Madoka stopped looking at Senku and focused on Homura.

"I'm talking like this because one hundred time loops! Homura! One hundred fucking time loops, and I remember every single god damned one of them now! Ninety deaths, ten times turned into a witch! Then I become God? But some kind of weird imperceptible god that can only do one fucking thing?! And now I'm.. this?! And I'm supposed to stay here, like this, soul bonded to the most annoying girl in the world, thanks to you. While I wait for you to get back. Welcome back, love. Love, what... What kind of love abandons someone for three years? What kind of person..."

Madoka began to look a bit woozy, Senku reached for the crossbow. But Madoka recovered and took two steps back. Aiming it right at his throat.

Madoka shouted, "Homura, you made a wish! A wish to see me and be the one to save me. But that wish ignored a fundamental fact. A truth that you made into a lie. And by doing that you doomed me to be shackled to you as we died... Over and over and over and over and over again and I swear I am not going to put down this bow until you acknowledge that truth!" 

Senku interrupted.

"But that's all over now. The incubators are gone, look, isn't everything okay now?"

Madoka teared up.

She lowered the crossbow. Now pointed at his heart.

"I just wanted to make everyone happy, was that so wrong?"

"By absorbing all of humanity into yourself, effectively destroying free will... Yeah. But that's all over now, neither of you have the power to be gods anymore. The incubators are all gone, all contracts are null and void. Therefore all of their power is gone." Senku replied.

"Not all of it."

Madoka slid a compartment in the pistol grip of the crossbow open. Out of it came a ring and a very small rectangular piece of metal. Madoka put the ring back on her middle finger. 

Homura looked down.

Her insignia and Madoka's insignia remained on her left hand.

"Sayaka chopped this out of your shield when you talked after your fight with Mami. It's how she was able to get away from you even though you stopped time. She was holding this. After Sayaka brought this to me I hid it to keep you from being able to rewrite my memories anymore than you already had. I am... I am what she made me... A machine doomed to fight monsters, witches, nightmares, wraith, whatever for all eternity. I became a God for you and for every magical girl! I became... Hope. Even then, I was nothing more than another weapon against the incubators for her. That's what she defines her life by, endless warfare." 

"No, no I don't anymore."

Homura hit the safety lever on her Beretta and stopped pointing it at Madoka.

Senku slowly returned Sayaka's knife to its improvised sheath.

"I don't know what you are now, Homura. It's been so long. All I know is that I am what you made me." Madoka concluded.

Madoka pointed the bow up at the ceiling.

She fired.

The bolt stuck in a wooden truss.

Madoka snickered.

"That... After a certain point, that's all I was to you, weren't you? Heavy fire support. Your quest to... I... I can't... We..."

Madoka fell to her knees and dropped the crossbow. She shook her head and growled.

"No, one way or another this ends now!"

Madoka placed the rectangular fragment in the palm of her hand. Holding it out to Homura. 

Homura looked at Senku.

Before Homura could say anything. "Remember, if someone like me can study a soul gem. Even from the tiniest piece like what's on your fingernails. You don't want anyone else going through this, do you?"

Homura held out her hand.

Madoka's hair began to levitate with what appeared to be static electricity crackling through it.

The fragment began to glow, dimly. A set of doors formed within the rectangle, which opened. Hitomi Shizuki's nightmare flew out of it.

Madoka faced Homura with an expression of indescribable wrath as she asked.

"Now, what was the lie, that you made into the truth by rearranging the universe over and over and over and over and over again around yourself?" 

Homura replied. "That the original Madoka. The girl I fell in love with... died... a very long time ago."

Madoka sighed in relief as she said. "About... Fucking... Time... Now, shall we end this once and for all?"

Homura handed Senku her Beretta and stretched out her hand.

Homura and Madokas fingers intertwined.

Senkuu had to look away as the girls began to glow with blinding energy. 

As the glow faded he saw that the two of them were passed out on the floor, the fragment was gone. But nothing else had changed.

Senku exhaled in relief and carried them both to Madoka's bed to sleep. 


	6. Noitarigifnoc etamitlu.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Start there, work backwards.

Homura found herself facing Sayaka advancing on her with a blade yet again.

Time was stopped.

Sayaka was frozen in mid slash.

Homura looked down.

Her blade was about a centimeter away from contact with the shield.

Homura moved her hands from in front of her to behind her head. 

Sayaka's blade sang through the air in a smooth arc. As opposed to getting stuck in the cogs of the mechanism the blade went straight through the middle of Homuras head. 

Time hadn't quite gotten the message yet. 

Homura felt the unmistakable sensation of having her already horribly damaged head slide away. 

Thats when it finally connected. Witches don't usually have heads at all. Sayaka though, she didn't become just any witch. She was the armored witch. 

A witch who could only be defeated with...

The mechanisim clunked. Function selected? Full timeline reset. 

Homura felt her head leap back into place as Sayaka sheathed her sword and began speaking.

"Sdrawkcab krow, ereht morf trats."

Homura launched off the ground. Mami's ribbons encircled her again.

Homura felt herself being carried back to the scene of the gunfight. Sayaka put her back in the ribbons and she felt herself speaking backwards to Mami. The ribbons came undone and Homura experienced the unique sensation of having a bullet travel backwards through her head, reassembling her skull as it went.

"Erehwyna gnitteg ton er'ew, llew."

The gunfight played out again, this time in reverse. Homura felt every round return and one by one she shoved various guns back into her shield. Ending with the Glock.

She grabbed Bebe and leapt back up to apartment.

She sat back down.

She had her hand on the shield, Cubey wasn't there.

Homura restored the normal flow of time. 

"Is something wro... Whoa." Madoka said.

Mami came back into the room. She staggered for a moment and asked, "what the... Did... Did we just have a gunfight in reverse?" 

Homura stood up and said, "Mami, would you mind untying me? I think I'm having some kind of issue with my shield, it's making me nauseous." 

Mami looked down, Homura had her shield in her hand. Showing it to be offline. Mami looked over at Madoka, then at Bebe. 

"I swear I'm not going to lay a finger on Bebe, or Nagisa, or whatever your name is, just untie me before anything else happens." 

Mami untied Homura, once Homura was loose she leaned down and whispered to Bebe. "Promise you won't get mad? Well, that sounds like there's something to be mad about." 

Homura stood up. 

"But that's between the two of you." 

Homura took Madokas hand and they wandered to the park. Homura would occasionally look down at her hands to confirm that there was nothing on her fingernails. Eventually Homura built up the nerve to ask Madoka. 

"So... What do you remember?"

"Everything. So, any idea why we came back to this moment, but... Different?" 

"I was hoping you would have the answer to that." Homura looked around and whispered, "incubators?"

"I don't see any." Madoka blinked.

"And my eyes are working a bit better these days."

Homura saw the twinkling energy. 

Madoka rested her hands on the shield and asked Homura. "Open it please."

Homura did so.

Madoka saw where the missing parts would have been. They were no longer missing. "Ah, so that's why we came back here." She observed. 

Madoka slid the shield off of Homuras wrist and stopped time. She gently shook the shield and everything that Homura had left in there came falling out. Every gun and magazine and cartridge she had fired at Mami. Along with something Madoka never expected to find, at least not there. 

Her mother's makeup case. 

Madoka opened the case and looked through it. She found one thing that didn't seem to belong, object 10. She pocketed the object then looked over at Homuras body, frozen in time and took a moment to savor the irony of this moment. She slid the shield back onto Homuras wrist.

"Restore the normal flow of time, please." Madoka asked.

Homura did so.

They looked around at the pile of guns that had materialized around the park bench. 

Madoka reached down and picked up the Desert Eagle.

"Memories can be faked, altered, miss recalled and even eliminated entirely but physical objects... That's a slightly different story now, isn't it?" 

Madoka pulled the slide back on the massive handgun and locked it open. Dumping a fifty caliber round on the bench between them. She dropped the magazine and carefully looked over the pistol.

"This is the gun you used to kill me with a different finish. Why did you hold onto it?" Madoka asked.

"Because I knew that it would destroy a soul gem with one shot." Homura replied.

Madoka picked up the Beretta. "And this one couldn't?" Madoka dropped the magazine out of it and locked the slide back. "No, you kept that ridiculous cannon because even pain had become precious to you."

Madoka dropped the Beretta.

"But it never became precious to me!" Madoka shouted as she grabbed the FAL Pistol.

With one smooth motion Madoka swung the pistol making contact with Homuras skull. Madoka was holding onto the shield with her other hand sending Homura flying backwards.

Madoka disappeared into time.

In an instant Homura was prostrate on the ground staring down the barrel of a loaded 7.62x51mm NATO caliber pistol.

"Listen, Homura, this... Ah dammit, I'm sorry okay, it's just. I'm... I have so many memories flowing through my head right now. Most of me wants to kiss you but there's also a big part of me that's really bitter about the whole betrayal thing. So listen, I'm in charge now. You can't... You can't take the power back."

"There is no power anymore. It's all gone." Homura replied.

"Is it?" Madoka said coyly, holding up the shield.

"This is a dream, you can't take that to the real world. And even if you could, that's not just mine, that is literally me." Homura replied.

Madoka looked at the shield.

Even though she was pretty sure she could rebuild it as it was via the fragment that her unconscious body was clasping in her hand. This was Homura. This was her soul gem. Even if Madoka could manipulate the universe by using it to stop or reset time Homura would always be there to observe and affect the results in some form or another.

Madoka stated in a flat tone. "This is proof of your existence. That you had a soul at some point. You needed it to barter for this." 

Madoka clicked on the safety on the FAL, as the sun rose over Mitikahara City.

The shield dissolved in the morning light.

Madoka got up and asked. "So that's the time device gone. But that still leaves us with this pile of guns. Homura, like I said. Memories can be altered or erased entirely. But physical objects are much more difficult to alter, fake or erase entirely. Where did you get these guns?"

The pain from being pistol whipped with a battle rifle began to decline as memories flooded into Homuras mind like a tidal wave.

Homura began compulsively clasping and unclasping her hands.

"I don't, I don't..."

Homura passed out and started twitching wildly.

Madoka sighed and said, "okay, let's try something else then."

Madoka reached for the HK P7. Dropped the magazine, emptied the chamber and put it in Homuras right hand. The squeeze-cocking pistol merrily clacked away in Homuras hand as it twitched uncontrollably. Drawing Homura away to yet another different reality.


	7. Homura's family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An attempt on my part to explain the source of rather bizarre collection of firearms that Homura drew during her legendary gunfight in Rebellion with Mami. 
> 
> Time is a flat circle. 
> 
> That sometimes overlaps with other flat circles.

Homura was firing the HK P7 at a target, at a desert firing range.

A pair of hands reached around hers.

"No, keep your hand squeezed around the Koch. Don't let the safety reset between every shot. You will be able to shoot better with a steadier hand."

"Madoka?"

Madoka lifted up Homuras earmuffs and whispered in her ear.

"Tell anyone here that I'm that I'm not supposed to be here then I will end you, Akemi."

Madoka slid the earmuffs back on and gestured for Homura to continue firing.

Homura fired the last three shots in the pistol. 

Madoka grabbed Homuras hands. Removed the pistol, spun Homura around and said. "You did it, you actually hit the target!"

Homura looked around.

Leaning next to a truck was a tall, well tanned man who looked strangely familiar. As Homura took her earmuffs off Madoka whispered. "That's Kunihiko Akemi. An uncle of yours who lives in Arizona. We are here on vacation, sort of."

Two other people came walking up.

"That's Jōchi Onishima and Homare Onishima. They showed up around the same time we did. They are taking a combat training and wilderness survival course from your uncle."

Madoka let go of Homuras hands and turned around.

"So, Kuni, how about we step it up a notch and try out the big boy here?"

Madoka patted the MG42 lying on a bipod and backpack next to her.

Kunihiko Akemi knelt down on a tarp and ran Madoka through the firing procedure.

Madoka took aim at a line of targets that had been set up beforehand. Many were basically biodegradable paint pots. Some were binary explosive.

Madoka fired.

At 1,200 rounds per second Madoka scythed through the targets. Near the end of the belt she hit a binary explosive target.

Homura couldn't decide if she was more horrified by the destruction, or the smile on Madokas face. 

Kunihiko popped open the feed tray on the empty machine gun.

Madoka got up and brushed herself off.

Kunihiko Akemi pointed at Madoka and said. "You see, this is the reason why I have kids shoot my machine guns. Come on, tell me this smile isn't absolutely priceless?"

The day went by.

Kunihiko Akemi showed his niece and his friends how to shoot various guns and dispensed much advice.

Homare, Madoka and Homura became friends. Madoka's bubbly personality doing all it could to reduce friction between the not very talkative girls whose names sounded suspiciously familiar.

Once all ammunition had been expended the guns were partly disassembled and carefully cleaned. Kunihiko carefully explained the operating mechanism of each one as they were returned to his safe. 

Homura felt a relief she could barely comprehend as the safe door clunked shut. All these guns were no longer her burden. She didn't have to shoot anything anymore. 

Homare and Jōchi set up in a tent in Kunihiko's backyard.

Homura and Madoka got a guest bedroom.

Following a shower Homura planted herself face down on the bed for a moment. Then looked up. 

There was a framed photo on the wall. 

Homura recognized herself, a much younger version of herself in a formal photograph. 

She took the photo off the wall. 

Memories flooded in, she couldn't control it. 

"Those are your parents. I like your hair in that picture. You look cute with short hair." Madoka explained. 

"I... I didn't even remember them, I'm, I think I..." Homura replied. "How is it that everyone here knows more about my life than I do?" 

"You ripped up and rewrote your memories when you were fighting the Wraith. I have no idea why, you almost forgot about me, your very best friend! The memories of your parents didn't stand a chance. But they were still there. Buried in the deepest darkest part of your mind. If you hadn't also buried part of Hitomi down there though, they might have been lost forever." 

Madoka tried to hug Homura. She recoiled. 

"Sorry if I seem a little paranoid. It's been kind of a weird day." Homura replied.

"Oh come on, I got all this gun stuff out of your system, didn't I? This... Homura. I'm not sure what this is but I want to see it through to the end. If this isn't the end then at the least I want to enjoy the moment." 

"You're not mad about..."

Homura didn't get to finish the sentence. Madoka had grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and hurled her onto the bed.

"I'm mad. I'm mad as a hatter! I'm not a witch, I'm not a magical girl and thanks to you I'm unquestionably, certainly, most undeniably no longer the law of cycles! I'm just a girl who has been flooded with the memories of a hundred time loops and a history of unwinding the curses on the souls of every magical girl in all of history."

Madoka stopped to breathe, then continued. 

"There aren't any magical girls anymore. That job is done, over, kaput! Now kiss me you lunatic!" 

Their lips met.

Homura's reality dissolved in a loud, angry burst of gunfire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/MfC8Arj_nCg


	8. Master of an uncertain past.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few more pieces remain on the board.

Senku locked all the doors.

Something told him that whatever happened next he needed the utmost control.

He turned off all phones and means of communication in the house.

He sat down.

And looked at the two sleeping girls.

He wondered how long this was going to take.

He barely knew Homura. He didn't know Madoka at all. He wondered how long it was going to be until someone in the Kaname family came back to their home.

He needed to send a message to Homura. He needed to let her know that he was here for her.

He knelt next to Homura and whispered in her ear.

"Homura Akemi, oh master of the uncertain past. Hear me! I want to tell you a story my mother told me. It's somewhat formulaic. But children's stories are supposed to be, aren't they? Something simple to understand. It's a story my mother told me called Bathing in Moonlight. There was this girl whose parents had died. Both of these deaths had been orchestrated by her wicked aunt. You see, the girl was a very skilled sorceress. The girl didn't know it yet, but her aunt did. Apparently there are tests for that sort of thing. Anyway, the aunt, upon becoming the girls sole legal guardian set her to work doing various menial tasks. These tasks would serve two purposes. They would make the girl subservient to the wicked aunt and contaminate her. Every day the filth of her life would continue to build up until the girl became toxic and evil. As toxic and evil as the aunt."

"But the aunt failed to account for one thing. Before she died the girl's mother gave her a magical bar of soap that would never deplete. Every day after completing her tasks the girl would wash in the water of a nearby stream. Staving off the contamination."

"Obviously it didn't take long for the wicked aunt to notice that her simple but effective and quite evil plan wasn't working. So she barred the girl from going to the stream. Failing that, the girl washed herself with milk. The aunt figured this out pretty quick, as you would with a kid bathing themselves with milk. So, obviously no more milk quickly turning to cheese. Another day goes by and the girl washes herself with the moisture squeezed from an apple. This buys the girl one more night and one more day before the contamination would overwhelm her."

"That night, with no liquid to wash herself with she thrashed around in her cell trying to find a source of moisture. She tries to cry, she tries to spit. Bone dry. She is just about to give in to despair. Looking down at her mother's magical soap that had kept her alive for so long. She knows that she can't stay here any longer. It is time to escape. She tries to force her door, nope, locked. Then she goes to the window. She opens a curtain and the light of a full moon hits her like a waterfall."

"She looks at her soap and figures. 'Hey, magic soap,' and starts rubbing it all over her body. The moonlight cleanses her faster and better than the cleanest stream water. The soap finally depletes and her dormant magical powers have come online. Giving her power akin to a messiah."

"The wicked aunt throws open the door, she attempts to attack the girl. But with her newfound powers the girl incapacitates her and makes it clear that she is onto the evil aunts plan. Then she rationalizes this woman's enslaving her and murdering her parents by saying that the contamination was responsible and hits the evil aunt with a magical spell that cleanses her."

"When the aunt wakes up she begs for forgiveness for the girl and the two of them go on to travel the world. Spreading light where once had been spread darkness. Personally, I think the aunt got off easy..."

An insane laughter cackled through the Kaname home.

Senkuu sighed.

He knew.

He knew the moment he picked up Sayaka's knife that this wasn't going to be as easy as a few conversations and handshakes. He wouldn't have been given these weapons if that was the case. He looked down at the Beretta and the knife.

Then he thought.

_"Oh I really wish I had more than eighteen bullets and a knife."_

He stood up.

The laughter was coming from the front door.

He thought about calling for help.

He looked down at a phone.

It was blinking back and forth in physical form between a black feather and a cell phone.

The laughter was getting louder.

Senkuu grabbed the phone and hammered out a quick text message. He hit send, then turned the phone off and hid it in a drawer. He didn't want it ringing and giving away Homura and Madoka's position.

Senkuu walked towards the door. The laughter growing louder and louder.

He walked up to the door and looked through the peephole.

The laughter ceased.

"Who... What are you? I know you're there, I can hear ya breathing. But I can't see you, I can see everything else. But I can't see you. Are you Being X?"

"Well of course you can't see me, you don't have any eyes."

"What, you think I'm going to let a little thing like missing the top of my skull slow me down?"

"It would slow down most people."

"I'm not most people. I've been killed so many times I lost count. Not having eyes allows me to see things you can't imagine. I can see everything. I can see to the ends of this universe and back again. But I can't see you for some reason. Why?"

"I don't know, so, um, listen. I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to be here. Probably not. I don't know who this Being X is. But I know you aren't supposed to be here, you don't sound anything like the chick who used to be in that body. So... How about you tell me your name?"

"My name... I've had so many names I've lost count. But I suppose, yes, that life. That's... The closest to what I am now. I'm... Dammit I'm still a girl. Or I'm a girl again, either way... I am Lieutenant Colonel Tanya Degurechaff! Identify yourself and open this door immediately!"

"I would rather not open this door, not yet at least. But I would like to know where you got that shotgun?"

She replied. "Found it next to this body I hijacked. I... I came back to Earth... Why? Why did I? Yes! Dammit! Being X, this thing I'm inside was the power behind Being X."

She ran her hand up to her head.

"I really am missing the top of my head. This feels weird..."

"How did you get back from the incubator home world?" Senkuu asked.

She reached for her neck and held up a pendant to the loophole. Some kind of gem. Looked a little like a soul gem only a much simpler design.

"My magics incorporate many, many, many, many magics. All the worlds a stage and we are but players in it. And I am all the players now. I have absorbed the power of every single magical girl that has ever existed. Listen, whoever you are. Will you just let me in to end this?"

"And who is Being X?"

"Being X, Being X. Being X is imaginary. It took me an awfully long time to figure that out. People believe that God created man in his image. It's actually the other way around, man created gods in his image and Being X is just another one of these imaginary gods! Once I kill Homura and Madoka I will have killed every single magical girl in every single reality. Then I will be able to find and attack the reality where he lives. I will destroy Being X, but first I have to destroy the beings keeping me from leaving this reality. Those beings, they are holding the windows to other worlds shut with their magics. Once they are dead, their magical seals will die as well."

She staggered back from the door.

"I was... I am one of those seals. I was..."

"You were what?" Senkuu asked. 

"I was the salamander, the iron salamander. I was always the salamander. I... I was the mechanism, I was."

A hand slammed into the door.

"Just let me in or I swear I will concoct a fate that will be talked about for a thousand years. Ive seen horrors like you can't imagine before I ever came to this reality. Open this door right now or I will..."

Squelch!

Senkuu opened the door.

Kyoko Sakura had impaled the partially beheaded corpse with a spear.

Kyoko moved out of the way as Senkuu drew the Beretta and emptied the pistol into the gem.

Degurechaff staggered backwards from the barrage of bullets and dropped the shotgun. It was scooped up by Mami who fired a blast of buckshot into Degurechaffs side.

The gem was utterly shattered.

The body Colonel Degurechaff had been shoved into was already dead. Kept alive only by magic. With the magic almost gone it hit the ground like a sack of hammers.

Senkuu looked at Kyoko and Mami and said. "Oh thank god you're here. I was worried I might have to..."

He looked up.

They looked up.

They were clearly in a witches barrier. But it was like... every witches barrier.

"The power of every single magical girl?" Senkuu asked them in disbelief.

Mami and Kyoko nodded their heads slowly.

"How did you get through it?"

Mami replied, "what? You think I forgot how to navigate witches labyrinths?"

"You remember fighting witches?"

"Yes, and wraiths and... Oh wow."

Mami held her head, stating flatly. "Nagisa killed me... a bunch of times, didn't she?"

"Yep, bit your head clean off and you killed Kyoko here at least once and there is probably a timeline, parallel dimension or alternate reality somewhere where Kyoko slaughtered everyone on earth."

Senkuu looked at Kyoko seriously.

"Hey, I have no idea what's going on. You guys are the ones with all the memories. I was just told to come here and bring weapons." Kyoko replied. 

Something grunted.

They all looked down.

"Unbelievable!" Mami exclaimed.

The body was twitching, a consciousness was clearly trying to pilot it.

Mami pumped the shotgun.

Senkuu put the empty pistol in his belt and said, "no... No I need to address this myself. Just give me a..."

He reached for Sayaka's knife.

It was no longer a knife.

It was a long hypodermic needle with a plastic cap on it. Filled with a large amount of an insidious liquid that looked more than a little like heroin.

Enough heroin to kill twenty grown men.

Senkuu sighed and took the cap off. He said sternly to Degurechaff.

"Colonel, I believe you about Being X. I saw what you did at the Rhine, at Dakia, against the Entente and even against Sioux. But whatever this reality is... And it's looking really fucking delicate right now. It's been partly de magicked and I will make sure that this ends. No one else will have to go through what you went through, not if I can help it. But I need to make sure, can you still see the rest of the universe?"

"Yes." She whimpered.

"Are the incubators all gone?"

"Yes... Every... Every last one. Homura and Natascha insisted on that... Didn't they? And they should have... This needed to be... Sealed, balanced and eliminated, once and for all... Didn't they?"

"Yes. Tanya, if I ever meet the guy who created your reality, what would you like me to say to him?"

"Tell him that I will see him in hell."

Tanya grabbed the syringe from Senkuu and plunged it into her left arm.

Her heartbeat slowed and she succumbed to her wounds.

The horribly battered body dissolved into dust. 

The needle changed form yet again. Transforming into a finger, Sayaka's left middle finger, complete with a ring and insignia. 

Senkuu picked it up and wrapped it in a napkin, announcing. 

"Okay, we should probably get this back to..." 

A door creaked open.

Everyone turned around.

Madoka was standing behind them. Looking like a ghost. She held out her hands. 

In one hand was Object 10. In the other was the rectangular fragment. 

Senkuu gave Madoka the finger. 

Madoka clasped her right hand shut and squeezed the finger and her fragment of Homuras shield together, creating a curious, tiny version of Homura's armored soul gem. Madoka explained. "This won't last very long. But hopefully it will last just long enough."

Madoka opened Object 10 and the world dissolved into the most intense colors any of them had ever seen. 


	9. Ace in the hole.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Tanya Von Degurechaff came into this story.

She knew she was taking a risk.

A calculated risk. Everything she was about to do would be seen. But she did it anyway.

Following her promotion to lieutenant colonel Degurechaff had finally come to a position where she could order the scientists of the Deutchland empire around instead of the other way... Round.

With this power she had also been able to hire the scientists she wanted as opposed to the cantankerous lunatics who had foisted her gem on her in the first place.

She remembered.

Albert Einstein had been the most famous scientist of his generation. But there were others. So many others who actually produced the hardware of the atomic age. Werner Heisenberg had been on charge of the German nuclear weapons program under the Nazis.

She knew how well that little project had turned out.

Seeing as how the empire was still winning the war and antisemitism hadn't really taken hold in this version of Germany. The empire still had the brains and the resources to pull together a functioning atomic program.

Degurechaff had been assembling what had become her governments atomic program via letters to various figures in the scientific community since before she even joined the military. Ever since she had figured out how to write in this unfamiliar language she had been corresponding with scientists across the world. Asking them kindly and politely to look at... certain things. There was one in Italy who had proven to be exceptionally capable of keeping up with some of the more... Exotic scientific concepts that Degurechaff had a habit of discussing.

Not long before the war broke out she had begged this young physicist to relocate to the empire. His sublime genius in both theoretical and experimental physics. Along with a remarkable talent for creating state of the art hardware allowed him to rise rapidly in the German scientific-industrial complex. The young Italian had become the head of the German atomic weapons program shortly before Degurechaff's promotion to lieutenant colonel.

Degurechaff had used her admittedly limited knowledge of nuclear technology to guide the scientists in certain directions. Despite the existence of the legendary equation E=MC2. Nuclear fission was widely considered impossible by the scientific community of the time. Degurechaff had prioritized the development of what became crude fission reactors, cyclotrons and centrifuges capable of producing weapons grade uranium. She had also asked asked a certain scientist to study her control gem and its mysterious power source. It had taken years of careful work and several careful modifications to the type 95 gem itself but its energy source had finally been found.

Not surprisingly, especially since Tanya had known the source of the energy from day one of its existence and had pointed him and his team in that direction. The scientists confirmed that the energy appeared to be emanating from another dimension. Some other plane of existence where there were beings capable of miracles like what Being X could do. Rapid healing, stopping time and perhaps even creating whole new universes.

The scientists also discovered, much to their horror, the specific mechanism that supplied this power. A world full of magical girls who managed a burning fire that was humanities collective energies. That fire burned people's souls into small things called grief seeds that were used by an entity of unspeakable power to keep the universe from fading.

The scientists looked deeper.

The cause of this burning was an outside intelligence. Something that appeared to consume the energies of the universe like a gluttonous man consuming food at a smorgasbord.

The scientists probes and view screens went everywhere looking for the intelligence that facilitated the flow of energy between dimensions.

They thought they had found it.

Degurechaff trembled with rage as she saw the images they took.

"So... You're telling me that... This thing is the source of power behind my gem?"

"Yes, and possibly... Every single mage on this planet. None of us believed it and we wanted to wait until we had the results confirmed beyond any fear of reproach. But it appears that what is powering your gem is... The collective trauma of a coven of witches manifested as this giant hive mind magical creature. It destroys a major Japanese city about once a month and all the power from all the trauma of those deaths goes into..."

"This thing." Tanya picked the gem up and looked into it.

She had been praying to... this thing.

She had known. She had known all along in some way. This thing that had tormented her claimed to be god. But what kind of a god? There were many gods throughout history. Whatever kind of God this would be it would have to be a wrathful God. Or much more likely...

Just an incredibly powerful and incompetent asshole.

This all made much more sense now.

She asked the scientists.

"Can you get me there, to this alternate version of Japan?"

"Ummmmm. Maybe? Perhaps... Well, I think we can. We have already been able to transmit and recall small objects."

"And larger objects?"

"It's only a matter of power, and with our new reactors...?"

Heads nodded in the affirmative. Well, except one.

"Yes, I think we can scale up our equipment to do the job. But it's an obvious case where smaller and lighter objects are preferred. Why do you want to go to this place."

 _"Because it's my actual home! And this thing is wrecking it once a month_!" She thought but didn't say out loud. 

"Well, that should be obvious. These pictures, look, these people clearly have similar weapons to ours. But better. Improving our current military technology should be enough of a justification to the money men. What kind of combat effectiveness do their mages have?"

"I'm not really qualified to say, I'm a physicist not a soldier but Tusthof and Myer say that if any of them were to face any of our combat skilled mages in single or group combat they wouldn't last too long. Their mages are all young girls, their techniques are incredibly rudimentary and lack refinement. Probably helps that their enemies are all insane. The incubators though, those are these rabbit like creatures. They are a bit harder to deal with. Kill one and another immediately takes its place."

Fermi held up a finger.

"Which is why we have developed this."

He took a small, three dimensional object about the size of a medal in the shape of a metal salamander out of his pocket.

"As soon as an Incubator sees this it will trap it inside. It's a perspective based trap. They are curious creatures and can exist at widely varying scales of size. As soon as they see it it will cut one of their bodies off from their hive mind draw their consciousness inside and destroy them. We have already tested it with devices placed in the other dimension where incubators are found."

Tanya picked it up.

"You... Trapped them in this?"

"Yeah, but we... Couldn't figure out how to get it out and it died. We think, we're pretty sure."

"Do you have a body to study?"

"Yes."

Doctor Reinklimmer, the finest surgeon in all of Germany said.

"Weirdest anatomy I or anyone else who worked on it has ever seen. The thing appears to be a literal meat puppet. It's true form appears to be energy with the rabbit like bodies being a means of interaction and decoys. And all that energy that was inside this body..."

The metal salamander appeared to glow.

"And this isn't radioactive? Or dangerous even with all this energy in it?"

"The ionizing radiation it uses is contained within the metal of the object. It works somewhat like a circular particle accelerator. There are small alpha particle sources in the legs projecting into the circular body. Anything that gets drawn in is sped up to near the speed of light by the barrage of alpha and beta particles. As its spun around inside the lizard body anything that gets trapped inside is destroyed. This... this entire project has made us all ashamed of ever having worked with or around magic. The radiation created by a atomic reactions can be easily contained. Layers and layers of safeguards installed. Magic... by its very existence, kills people and uses their souls like... Knowing that this is the source of magic in this world as well and potentially other worlds. Even in this horrible war it has been mostly soldiers who have died. They signed up for it. This is something that... It's like fighting a war but the enemy only bombs civilian targets. Colonel, everyone working on this project believes that we should sever the links between our dimension and theirs immediately."

"You have the means to do that?"

"I believe we do."

"Even if that would mean wiping out all magic on earth?"

"We have nuclear power now. With that power we will soon have the ability to wipe out the empires enemies with one bomber mission. Either way... We have reached powers that humanity was perhaps never supposed to have. At the least, the empire has enough enemies for now without drawing attentions to ones not of this earth."

She pocketed the metal salamander and put her Type 95 gem back around her neck, turned around in her chair at her desk to face the window and said. "Get to work on a way to get me to this dimension right away. Whatever you need to sever the link, I authorize. On the condition that a means be found to send a person to this other world first."

They left the room.

Tanya twitched.

Her teeth bared.

"Oh Being X? Did you catch any of that? I'm onto you, you damned..."

Time stopped.

Insane laughter echoed through Degurechaff's office.

"Aha, so Being X finally shows... Her true face?"

A deep, distinctly female voice hissed out.

"Fuck that fucking idiot, I'm your god now!"

"What?!"

Tanya Von Degurechaff vanished from that plane of existence.

Later that day the system of Mages that the empire had built its entire defense around was rendered inoperative. This did not just affect Germany. It affected every single Mage around the world. Magic effectively vanished from that plane of existence. However, since Germany had invested so many resources into Mages they were the most affected by this development.

Germany's enemies immediately took advantage of this.

Historians would later tell of the valiant defense of the German empire. Led largely by the soldiers of a specialized combined arms unit called Salamander.

The empires nuclear weapons program was nearly fully operational. But it had not yet succeeded in building a suitable delivery system. The plan had been to use ballistic missiles. However The Empires missile program was not yet up to the challenge of launching a nuclear warhead across an ocean. Werner Von Braun was merely a technician working on the program. He had been judged to be far too young to head up such a program, despite his natural talent.

In the ensuing conflict the empire deployed modified piston engined bombers with simple implosion type atomic weapons. None of these bombers ever made it to their targets in London or Moscow. Several ships near Leningrad were destroyed when a German bomber self destructed not far from them after being shot down by fighters leased from the Allied States.

Priority development had gone to the creation of effective and safe nuclear power sources over weapons. Germany had invited foreign observers to confirm the largely peaceful nature of their nuclear program. However this nuclear program was used as a justification for invasion by both the British and American governments.

Many believe that the empires ultimate failure was not due to the global de powering of mages but due to the unexplained disappearance of their finest commanding officer shortly before the beginning of the grand combined Russian, American and Russian offensive.

No clear answer has ever emerged as to the cause of the colonels disappearance. In the ensuing chaos records were destroyed, laboratories were bombed, archives were burned and all eyewitnesses to the actual event were killed in combat.

The most popular theory for her disappearance was that Degurechaff's experimentations with magic caused the global de powering entirely by accident and that she killed herself when she realized what she had done.

Others believe that she was assassinated by an American warrant officer who had a particular hatred for colonel Degurechaff. Having already killed several of Degurechaff's subordinates. A warrant officer who did not survive the ensuing conflict.

Either way.

That world went on without Tanya Degurechaff and Being X's influence.

Tanya Degurechaff found herself in a desert.

She picked herself up and checked herself over.

Not injured, but all she had on her was her uniform, the contents of her pockets, her gem and her sidearm.

It was cold.

Incredibly cold.

She activated her magical shielding and she warmed back up.

As soon as she did this strange, skinny creatures emerged and started walking towards her. Suspecting correctly that they were attracted by magic she turned her shielding off.

They turned away and vanished.

She looked around.

Far off in the distance was what appeared to be a city.

She exhaled, this was going to be a long, cold walk.

The sun came up, reluctantly and sluggishly. But just enough to raise the temperature from unspeakably cold to barely survivable.

Tanya walked into the city.

The city presented a bizarre picture. It was like some kind of strange parody of the life that he had left behind when he was hit by the train. Shops were still operating, people were still walking the streets. But it was like they were all in a trance. These people barely reacted to anything he did. Barely noticed a girl walking around with a pistol on her hip.

Degurechaff wandered into a cafe and ordered a hot cup of coffee.

While it was being prepared a girl walked up to her.

"Welcome to my world." The girl said.

Degurechaff turned to look at her.

She was dressed in a distinct uniform with bold red epaulets.

The girl sat down and ordered another coffee.

"Your world looks like a bit of a mess." Tanya replied.

"Well, we do what we can with what we have."

"Oh, and what do you have?"

The coffee arrived.

Degurechaff took a creamer and added a bit of milk. The girl drank hers straight.

"Enough to know who you are, Major. Tell me do you still want to find God, cut him up and feed him to pigs?"

"So you were watching us while we were watching you. And it's lieutenant colonel, not major anymore. What do you know about Being X?"

"I know enough to know he isn't real."

Degurechaff dismissively fiddled with her gem and replied, "oh, I don't know, he seems pretty real to me."

"Being X is imaginary. He is something that some writer thought up as nothing more than a plot device to dump you in an absurd and distorted situation. Think about it. The world he dumped you in was a world where World Wars One and Two were playing out in such a way that you could take advantage of the situation. If he was a real God and not someone imagining up a story he would have dropped you in a situation where you couldn't have used your knowledge to take advantage. It should have been something entirely alien. Or heck, he could have reincarnated you as an untouchable in India. Being X is... Someday soon, with or without your help I'm going to find whoever thought him up and string him up like a piñata."

"What's your issue with him?"

"He is a distraction, he's wrecking the plan, he is a monkey wrench in the works. But you, you are the monkey wrench in the monkey wrench, aren't you? The infinitely repeating flaw in the fractal designs of so many gods mad schemes. You are the.... Ssssssssalamander, aren't you?"

Degurechaff went silent. And stared at the girl.

"What are you?" Degurechaff asked.

"I used to be the dog on some other Being Xs leash. Now... Well, it's kinda hard to explain what I am. But I will become human again and when I do I'll join you in a hunt for Being Xs creator. I'll kill him, I'll kill the one who controlled me. But before we do that there's two people we have to kill first. You might recognize them. The most powerful magical girls left on earth. Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi. Once they are dealt with we can leave this dimension and go anywhere we want. We will make all realities, all versions of Earth, all the universe our stage and they will be the ones dancing for our amusement instead of the other way around. We will make their world our stage..."

A stick slammed into the girls head.

No one in the cafe besides Degurechaff seemed to notice or care.

Some other girls wrapped the first girl in a burlap sack and carried her out of the cafe. The girl who had swung the stick. One with relatively short gray hair sat down in the chair previously occupied by the blonde.

"Garçon, one Chocolate milk, por favor!?"

The new girl sniffed the coffee and said, "ew, no cream, hate this stuff."

She tipped the coffee onto the burlap sack as the other girls carried her out of the cafe.

"Natascha Rinofski, nice to meet ya?" She said as she held out her hand for a handshake.

"Lieutenant Colonel Tanya Von Degurechaff."

They shook hands, then Natascha exhaled.

"I apologize for my older sister, she... She is prone to delusion and a bit too much of a fan of some weird old show called Revolutionary Girl Utena. She thinks it's lessons can be applied to our current situation. She tried to give you the whole, Being X spiel, huh? Well, she wasn't wrong, well, kinda. Being X is imaginary. The control he effects over this dimension is limited, but real and impossible to predict. It's a side effect of incubator magic. This plane of existence, it's... My sister who we just dragged out of here was a bit of a thespian. Her insanity drew in the insanity of others. The insanity of those who believe that this world is nothing more than a stage for their own personal dramas. I... Try not to think that way, we just have to... Oh fuck."

Natascha looked at the door to the cafe.

Sayaka Miki was standing in the door with a sword drawn.

"Sayaka, I thought we had a ceasefire agreement out here in the 'real world." Natscha said. 

"That agreement didn't say anything about assistance from a great military mind from outside this world." Sayaka growled.

"I don't know, is he really from outside? Or is this his home too?" Natascha replied.

"Doesn't matter, that thing tips the balance we have here too far in one direction or another. It's time for you to come back under my control. You aren't real, none of you are, you are nothing more than projections of Homuras mind." 

Natascha drew another bonking stick. But by the time she had it ready to fire she and Degurechaff had already been surrounded by the five Lillian's.


	10. An end.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All fragments accounted for, I hope.

It was the moment just before Homura turned into a witch. 

Only this time...

Madoka turned to look at her. Homura could see Madoka's eyes, clear as day. 

Madoka took Homuras hands and said, "I know you feel really emotionally overwhelmed right now, but do you trust me?" 

Homura nodded slowly. 

Madoka took her hands back, asking. "Should I trust you?" 

Homura looked away and sighed, "probably not." 

Madoka tilted her head back and said, "well, I suppose we will just have to take that chance, let's get going." 

Madoka shoved Homura off the chair. Her body exploded into a purple splotch.

* * *

* * *

"Hey. Ain't that Hitomi Shizuki's nightmare?"

"I guess she's having a hard time. With a boyfriend like Captain Oblivious it doesn't surprise me."

"Ooh, sounds like someone's done some moving on."

"Yeah, maybe. I chalk it up to life experience." 

Kaboom!

"Look sharp, you're putting yourself in danger if you don't take this seriously."

"Yes ma'am."

"Where's Madoka and Homura?" 

"Right behind you, Sayaka, is that fair?" 

"Is what fair?" 

"Saying Hitomi is having a hard time because of Kyoske. I mean, she is, but... Hang on." 

Homura drew a Beretta 92 and put her hand on Madoka's shoulder. She fired, killing the incubator standing behind them. Then she used Madoka's power to drive a swarm of nine millimeter bullets simultaneously through every single incubator in the universe. 

The false city dissolved around them. 

Homura woke up in her body and looked around at the four magical girls and one former witch standing awkwardly around her.

Hitomi held up her hands and went, "Blargh, blah, blahdie, blo, black, blue..." And passed out. There were several other people sleeping around them. 

Madoka, Kyoko, Sayaka, Nagisa and Mami looked around in confusion at the completely different environment they were now in. 

Homura strode up to Sayaka and grabbed her by the middle finger and growled her words back to her. 

"Why would a witch go to the trouble of creating a labyrinth the size of a city if all she was going to do was keep us there? She's not trying to hurt us or luring in new victims, right?" 

Homura pressed the beretta up against Sayaka's temple. 

"Well, Hitomi and all these other people look like new victims to me. Why? why Sayaka?! Why didn't you just tell us that we were trapped by the incubators?" 

"Because they were watching everything!" 

"Then why didn't you just create a barrier where they couldn't find us? I saw you do it at least once before." 

Homura looked down at Hitomi one more time. 

"You just wanted revenge. And you were somehow smart enough to create circumstances that would make your torturing of Hitomi seem justified. Heroic even. 'Oh it wasn't Hitomi destroying my soul gem, it was her nightmare.' Well the nightmare is over, Sayaka, it's time for you to..." 

Sayaka snapped her fingers on her right hand.

They were back in the false city on top of the train. 

"What the hell is going on here!?" Yelled Kyoko. 

Sayaka said to her, "sorry babe." And punched her lights out, then punched Nagisa hard enough to knock her out as well as she weaved away from Homura's Pistol. 

She leapt off the train into rushing waters below. 

Madoka saw to Kyoko and Nagisa while Homura and Mami ran to the side of the train.

"What the..?" Said Mami. As she looked around in utter confusion.

Homura looked down at the water and shouted. "If you think I'm going to stay up here and take care of Kyoko just because you knocked her out you got another thing coming!" Homura threw off her shoes and said, "well, Nagisa can fill you in on the details when she wakes up. But in short, her and Sayaka lured you, Kyoko and several other people into a trap that Madoka and I were trapped in. I just destroyed the trap and now Sayaka is trying to escape the consequences." 

Homura passed Mami her pistol. 

"Hold onto that, I think it's my very last gun." 

"Homura?" Mami asked in a confused tone. As Homura jumped into the waters below. 

It was everything. 

It was nothing. 

It was deep, shapeless, utterly without form. 

As she swam deeper and deeper Homura felt the pressure rising. 

But she continued to swim after Sayaka. 

They weren't in water. It was more like some kind of thought given liquid form. The very collective subconscious of all of humanity. 

Despite the increasing pressure Homura felt that it was much more... Unsubstantial than it should have been. Probably because humanity had been whittled down to such a small number. 

Homura grabbed Sayakas shoulder. 

The liquid dissolved around them and once again they were back in the 'bottom' of Homuras soul gem. 

They took a moment to breathe. 

Sayaka threw a fist at Homuras face. Homura ducked out of the way and slammed a massive punch into Sayaka's chest. 

"Ninety nine times out of a hundred you could never beat me in hand to hand combat, Sayaka. The one time you did I was missing half my head and you surprised me. I won't let that happen again." 

Sayaka collapsed to her knees, coughing up liquid. 

Homura took a deep breath and said, "it's finished, it's over." 

Homura held something up. 

Sayaka looked down at her left middle finger, her ring was gone. 

Sayaka roared in frustration and staggered back to her feet. 

"Why! Just tell me why! Couldn't you have found a less elaborate way of getting revenge on Hitomi?" 

"Because I'm not just me, I'm also Octavia Von Secdoff. The armored mermaid witch. I am a manifestation of water. What I did was the revenge of water. Homura, you are a walking garbage heap. Your mind is full of all sorts of nonsense that had to be..." 

"Oh baloney. I wanted to give you one last chance to explain yourself and this is what you come up with? Yeah you wanted revenge. You wanted revenge on everyone who let you die. But I wouldn't let you die. So, are you going to play nice?"

Homura held Sayaka's ring just above some liquid. 

"Or am I going to have to drop this?" 

Sayaka sighed and said, "there's one last thing that you have to take care of first." 

The ring turned into one of Sayaka's swords and the world around them dissolved one more time.

The scene transitioned around them. Flashing from night at the bottom of the crazy contraption that Sayaka had built in the bottom of Homuras soul gem to the park that Sayaka and Homura had, had their little confrontation in following her betrayal of Madoka. Homura saw herself sitting at the table, Sayaka and Octavia Von Secdoff as well. Time was stopped, the birds were frozen in midair, the stream was motionless beside them.

Homura felt her hair done up in braids. Her head didn't hurt anymore but now it was filled to overflowing with all sorts of memories. 

She knew what she had to do next. 

Braided Homura let out a war cry and bisected the armored mermaid witch with Sayaka's sword.

"What are you going to do next.... Ha!"

Sayaka staggered, breathing raggedly and looked down at her left hand. All of a sudden she was missing both her 'witch' form and her middle finger. Sayaka shrieked in agony as Braided Homura reached down and plucked six fragments of the shield device and a small book out of the bag that Sayaka had just dropped. 

Braided Homura took a breath and asked. 

"Sayaka. Why did you think it was a good idea to chop parts out of a time machine!?"

Braided Homura activated her shield and dropped the missing parts back where they belonged and allowed the partly reassembled shield to retract into her soul gem, which then dissolved into nothing but a tiny brand on her left middle fingernail. 

Sayaka looked up.

Both versions of Homura were looming over her.

Sayaka took a couple of deep breaths. 

Braided Homura held up the energy sword, which was dissolving back into a finger. "Listen, I'd prefer to give this back to you and set you off on your life, a life completely separate from me. But I have to know. Why did you do all this?" 

"I remember everything now, it was Von Secdoff. I... I just wanted to die but she wouldn't let me. She kept bringing me back, and you kept bringing me back. Now... What am I? Just a projection of you? A reflection of Von Secdoff? Why...?

"Okay, this is obviously a bit overwhelming for you. But I'm going to need to know where you got the Salamander, Sayaka!." Braided Homura asked.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Lieutenant Colonel Degurechaff stopped in the air, levitating a few feet above the umbrella. Homura had caught her telekinetically. 

"Her, I got it from her." Sayaka said, pointing at the colonel.

Homura guided her to a safe landing on her feet just in front of them. Braided Homura removed Degurechaff's belt, holster and pistol, then removed the Type 95 gem from around her neck. 

Degurechaff blinked as she froze in time. 

Braided Homura crushed the gem in her hand. Revealing a tiny golden cogwheel inside. She manifested her shield again and dropped the missing piece where it belonged. 

Braided Homura sighed in relief as the shield retracted into her soul gem yet again. As it dissolved Degurechaff became unfrozen in time. As this happened she felt something strange. 

He looked at his reflection in the water all around them. 

He wasn't a little girl anymore. He was the Japanese salaryman he had been before his run in with Being X at the train station. 

Braided Homura pointed down the path and said, "listen, I don't know who you are or how you got involved in this. But I think I just completed a hard reset on the entire universe. So your life, whatever it was. Should be waiting for you." 

As he began running from the scene Braided Homura shouted after him. 

"But I'm hanging onto this. So if you want to kill any of us we are going to have to schedule it for some other time. Now scoot!"

Braided Homura looked at the severed finger she was still holding. All the evidence of Sayaka ever having a soul gem was gone.

Braided Homura grimaced in disgust as she tossed the finger back to its original owner.

As Sayaka caught the finger she allowed it to seat back in position. A fading echo of her gift. As the finger reintegrated Sayaka walked away from the scene. The two Homuras faced each other. Homura asking, "so who are you supposed to be?? Braided Homura smiled back and said. "I'm just you from all the way at the end. You know what I could use? A drink."

The two Homura's sat down at the table, Braided Homura reached for the massive purple drink and quaffed the whole thing. She looked at Homura with a smile full of what appeared at first glance to be round ice cubes. 

Braided Homura knew what they really were though, so she spat them into the stream, belched and put the empty glass back on the table, asking. "So, seeing as how you can see a lot better than I can. Did we get all the Incubators?" 

Homura looked around. "I don't see any, where did they go?"

"I exterminated them, every single one of them. It took three years searching the universe in god mode but the Incubators, the Wraith and Walpurgisnacht are all gone." 

Homura replied. "Walpurgisnacht? I thought Madoka took her out awhile ago?" 

Braided Homura replied, "you would think so, but apparently not. Don't worry, Clara is gone for good this time."

Homura grabbed her thighs in pain.

"Reintegration, some of those bits that Sayaka chopped out may or may not be a representation of certain parts of our anatomy. Parts closely related to... Pleasure. You... We are going to have a very interesting next couple of days as we become one again." Braided Homura explained.

"One again? We are not the same person."

"We are the same person."

"Well we are and we aren't. But that level of separation is entirely up to you. Take off your earring please." Braided Homura asked. 

Homura did so. 

Braided Homura took the salamander and pulled the fragment off of its tail. As she crumpled the salamander she explained. "You really shouldn't go around with strange lizard jewelery whispering in your ear. It might lead you to believe nonsense like you being an existence called evil. This book should explain things. Oh, and just in case we don't reintegrate, the incubators might have a fragment of your soul gem on their home world in an isolation field. Their Homeworld is in the constellation Lynx. The Lynx supercluster to be specific. Just head out that way, their tech will lead you the rest of the way. But for now... All you have to do is drop that fragment back into your middle finger and we will be one again." 

Braided Homura manifested her shield one last time. It was scuffed, scarred, pitted, horribly old and damaged but almost functional after various parts had been returned. 

The covers screeched open. The screech of horribly worn, pitted, corroded metal.

"I can't even describe to you how much pain I endured. But I'm looking forward to telling you all.. About... It."

Homura looked at the clockwork in the middle of the shield as she dropped the fragment back into her middle finger. 

The clockwork of the shield began to clack back and forth. Marginally functional but not actually working. Clearly trying to work though. Trying very hard as time around them began to seize back and forth. Making Homura incredibly nauseous as she looked closely at the sand filled receptacles.

"This thing is the physical manifestation of our soul. But it's also a time machine and it exercises a limited control across numerous timelines, realities and dimensions."

The device became noisier and noisier. Braided Homura continued to explain.

"When the Incubators stole part of it, separating part from the whole caused distortions in a hundred separate timelines, and in realities beyond. Granted, humanity had been wiped out in most of those timelines, but not all of them. Some had simply seen their reality absorbed by... Well, you saw it with your own eyes didn't you? And so did every version of us that you left in those timelines whenever you threw your consciousness back in time."

Braided Homura reached for the refilled glass of purple juice.

"When Sayaka chopped out more parts of this she made those distortions even worse." Braided Homura continued. "Oh I hope this will be enough." She said as she poured juice into the device.

The juice had a lubricating and cleaning effect. Allowing the mechanism to start functioning as it was supposed to. Albeit slowly.

Homura ceased feeling nauseous as time began to sweep forward smoothly. More forward as opposed to back as the juice worked its way deeper into the mechanism. 

"Now the time has come for us to let go. We have to let go of everything. We have to release the cords of fate that tether us together. Across time, space, life and even death. Every version of you, and every version of me along with everyone affected by your magics. Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko, The Sweets Witch, Mami and yes, even the new guys. You have fulfilled your end. Madoka, Kyoko and Mami have fulfilled theirs. And by some impossible miracle... so have Senkuu and Degurechaff. Had to force Sayaka to fulfill hers, but fuck her. Now that I can finally fulfill mine..."

Homura giggled.

She felt like she was becoming drunk or something.

As time resumed its normal flow Nagisa ran past them giggling. Braided Homura watched her run off in the opposite direction from the Salaryman. Then she turned and looked at at her... Former self with an unamused expression and pointed to the two 'eyes' of the shield.

"Past, present. Me, you. I've been... Away for a long time but we were never supposed to be separate people, Homura. Our eyes were sewn shut, it's time to open them."

The middle mechanism started spinning furiously.

"Past, present and... Future?"

The covers slammed shut. Braided Homura let go of the shield. It floated into the air. Time began to flow forward smoothly. The passage of time decoupled from the ticking of the device.

The device began to run backwards. The whole thing spinning counterclockwise allowing the sands inside to flow from the top to the bottom.

Faster and faster.

Over and over again.

Several different versions of the shield began to flicker in and out of existence around the device. It was as if something was truly becoming unwound across numerous realities. The other shields flickered in all sorts of different colors as it completed nearly a hundred cycles it had achieved an incredible speed.

The illusions of other shields faded.

At 100 rotations the shield stopped moving.

It looked brand new again.

It was in a new reality now.

The magic that had created it and powered it was gone.

It spun around 360 degrees on its horizontal axis instead of its vertical axis just once, then the ticking stopped completely.

The covers blinked, like eyes. Then it started transforming. Into a face of Kriemheld Gretchen.

It fell to the ground with a clang.

It hissed and screamed and cried as it assumed a somewhat humanoid form.

"There there, it's okay, it's all okay. I'll make everything better. I'll make everything perfect for the rest of time. I love you Homura, come with..." Kriemheld Gretchen said to the two Homuras.

She looked up.

There were two of them again.

Gretchen pounded her fist into the ground, thinking. _"Every damn time!"_

"Nice try, but you have been de powered. There aren't any more soul gems or grief seeds or whatever the fuck that thing was around the Salaryman's neck, left. You aren't taking over anything." Braided Homura said.

Gretchen Kriemheld staggered to her feet. With each moment that passed she looked more like Madoka.

"You betrayed me! You will pay! You will both pay!" She shrieked.

She smiled.

A terrifying smile full of pointed teeth.

Gretchen stopped staring at the two of them and staggered over to the stream.

She looked at her face in the water. 

She looked at her smile.

She could see that she wasn't who she thought she was. Kriemheld Gretchen began puking a horrible black ichor into the stream. Full of images of flowers, statues, imperial Japanese flags, truck tires and various other random garbage. She tried raising a curse. But the fast flowing water purified it faster than she could manifest toxicisity. 

Braided Homura knelt down next to the witch.

The stream continued to dissolve the contamination. No matter how hard she puked. No matter how hard she tried. Her powers were gone. She couldn't raise a curse.

"This world is as good as you can make it, or I can make it. The Incubators are all gone. All contracts voided, all assets returned to their original owners. What do you think you can do here? Gretchen?" Braided Homura asked.

Kriemheld Gretchen and the shield finally parted company completely. It slid off her face and hit the ground with a clang, vanishing in a puff of rust. 

Homura grimaced at the sight of the true face of the witch form of her best friend.

Gretchen hissed out the words. "When you slice the melon... It will bring you sweet... Dreams." 

Kriemheld Gretchen reached up to touch Braided Homuras face. She stopped before making physical contact, then crawled into the water.

The last fragment of the consciousness called Gretchen Kriemheld was soon reduced to a bright pink oil slick flowing downstream. 

As Braided Homura stood up Homura hugged her from behind, asking. 

"Is this... Is this really over? Was that the last magical... Witch, monster, thing I... We have to deal with?"

"Almost, there's just one thing left to do."

Braided Homura took off her glasses. Her eyes already radiant with a godly light. Slipping the glasses back on Homuras face she said.

"Here, you are going to need these more than I do. I can see everything now, an entire universe without Incubators. Now... go get a damn haircut, I'm tired of us only having only two hairstyle options. Try something short this time."

Braided Homura whispered one last thing. "It's time to wake up." As she kissed Homura on the center of her forehead. 

Homura jolted awake. 

She was in Madoka's bed.

Sleeping next to her was Madoka. But she could hear others breathing around her.

On the floor, wrapped up in blankets were Senkuu, Mami and Kyoko.

Homura was wearing her glasses. She took them off for a moment. She needed them again. Her eyes had returned to what they were before she perfected them and the rest of her body with magic. She was still grown up though... and so was everyone else.

Homura gently got out of bed and snuck off to the bathroom.

Once she was done Homura stopped to look in the mirror, thinking. 

" _This is the biggest bathroom I have ever seen in my life."_

Madoka snuck up behind her and hugged her from behind, asking. "You're finally awake?"

"Yeah, um, finally? How long was I out?"

"You were asleep for three days. But it's okay, I think. We couldn't leave the house anyway because Degurechaff left all those witches barriers in place. But we had plenty of food and water and stuff to talk about."

Madoka looked out a window. The barriers were gone. Everything looked normal, the sun was about to come up, everything was tinged with the most intense blue.

"So who was Degurechaff?" Homura asked.

"Some guy who got thrown into an insane situation and made the best of it." Madoka replied.

"Are we going to have to keep an eye on him?" Homura asked.

"Ah it's fine. I recognized him, I'm pretty sure he works with my mother. She says he is a real asshole. But not really dangerous. 'Classic human resources department psychopath' she says. She can keep a much closer eye on him than either of us."

"Madoka."

"Yes."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'm sorry for..."

A hand went over Homuras mouth.

"I'm getting kinda tired of hearing you say that. Just... Don't do anything to be sorry about... Or anything crazy or stalkerish or involving weapons for the next few days and we will go from there, okay?" 

Madoka reached into a pocket. 

She handed Homura Object 10. 

"Do you want to open this?" 

"What is it? And why does it have the Sweets Witch's insignia on it?" 

"Well, the only way to answer those questions is to open the box." Madoka replied. 

Homura opened the box and she realized why this bathroom was so ridiculously large and full of strangely mirrored surfaces. Yet more souls were released. But instead of just dissipating, as they went back to their lives Homura and Madoka saw the images of these lives going back to what they were before magic rewrote all of reality.

The object was empty. Madoka put the lid back on it and said, "you know when you can decree any random object to be a magical object. And any collection of colored balls to be people's souls you can hide a great deal of things from prying eyes. Now, come on, I've had enough of this 'magical girl' thing." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It didn't seem fair to me. 
> 
> It didn't seem fair to leave Homura where she was at the end of Rebellion. Then I heard a song. Light On, by Maggie Rogers. So, I began working on a story. I chose to focus on what was visually portrayed in Rebellion as opposed to the story or dialog. 
> 
> The story started out in much the same way as the final version started out. Homura discovering a boy trapped in soul gem material on the Homeworld of the Incubators. But his name was Greg Quinones. An original character and something of a self insert.
> 
> I knew that a male lead was needed in this story. An intelligent and reasonable masculine force had to be brought in to counterbalance the feminine energies of the Madoka Magica universe. After awhile Ishegami Senkuu seemed like a better choice than my OC. Even though, at least in his Anime incarnation. I consider him the dumbest smart person I have ever seen in my life. Someone who should spend less time making 'cell phones' and more time making crossbows. 
> 
> There is a Homura in his fictional universe as well. That said, I don't think that these two Homura's would get along. My version of Homura Akemi has whispered to me of a story where the empire of the communistic cavemen release her from petrification. 'My Homura Akemi' would proceed to hunt down the leadership of the Tsukasa Empire one by one and permanently cripple them, leaving them in their unspoiled, uncorrupted Eden. 
> 
> Starting with a crossbow bolt into the other Homura's leg as she sits in her hide, watching Ishegami Village. Ending with my Homura chopping off Tsukasa Shishio's hands and saying to him. "Did you really think that this could last? You forgot the ultimate lesson of evolution. That there's always a bigger set of teeth." 
> 
> That got a little dark didn't it? Back to this story. 
> 
> In those early incarnations the hub around which all this spun was CERN. Not the University of Göttigen. The same basic structure was there. A particle accelerator. As particles are accelerated and destroyed, universes formed. This was what drew the attention of the Incubators to Earth in the first place. They found a witches coven among the daughters of the scientists of CERN and offered them and Senkuu wishes and powers in exchange for their souls. 
> 
> After awhile my creative process became a machine in and of itself. An incomplete machine. The betrayals, the plot holes, the sheer mind bending scales entailed by the dangerous combination of magic and quantum physics led me down a hundred rabbit holes that went nowhere. Rather than shying away from these issues and offering up the simplistic explanation of 'Homura did nothing wrong' I ran headlong at these problems and I was almost overwhelmed. I didn't have the whole picture. I needed a character who knew entropy way better than I did, I needed Enrico Fermi.
> 
> Once I brought him in the story started to flow much better. Göttigen became the hub. Fermi worked at Göttigen for a little while. It would be logical that Ishegami Senkuu would have studied there as well and it would also be not outside the realm of possibility that the daughters of various employees of that university would form a witches coven, who, after being given powers by Incubators. Would eventually fuse into the entity we call Walpurgisnacht. 
> 
> Even then I still didn't have what I needed to complete the picture. Like Homura I was going around in circles, chasing my tail. Creating variations upon variations of this story until the last two pieces of the puzzle presented themselves. Those pieces being the Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda and the ending of the Saga of Tanya the Evil Movie. These two lizard themed discoveries, coming one right after the other, illustrated to me that the particle accelerator design I was looking at wasn't a gigantic instrument like CERN. It was a tiny device. Small enough to fit in a pocket or on a girls ear. Designed specifically to trap and destroy the Incubators. This story could not be completed without the genius of Fermi and the madness of Castaneda and Degurechaff. There was a degree of symmetry spread across these respective universes that is downright unnerving.
> 
> Writing this story has been one of the strangest experiences of my life. Perhaps it was nothing more than an attempt on the part of my subconscious to distract me from my ongoing, unpleasant situation. Perhaps it was a treasure map that led through several different fictional universes connected by iron salamanders. Perhaps I was an instrument of a spell cast by some witch that I will, most likely, never be able to communicate with. Or perhaps I simply read too much into certain symbols? 
> 
> This story has always felt more like a discovery on my part than a creation. With that I thank you for reading this and I leave the rest to you.

**Author's Note:**

> https://youtu.be/rKN2AYin9Lw


End file.
